Physics is not as arrogant a trade as J. Murray Gibson claims. My dictionary calls arrogance “unwarranted pride,” and I warrant that our trade is somewhat justified in being proud of its accomplishments.
In Drexel University’s course on science and religion, taught by a trinity of one campus minister, one physicist-philosopher, and one humble physicist, I emphasize what I call the principle of scientific humility—that integral to science is our express lack of knowledge. That lack is clear in physical measurements, each one of which has an attached uncertainty, colloquially called an “error.” In precision work, two errors are often given for a measurement: one covering experimental errors and one covering systematic errors. We ask students to find other areas of human endeavor in which uncertainties are similarly openly displayed.
